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A social club in the Maindee area of Newport will be allowed to sell alcohol despite concerns about smokers congregating on the pavement outside.

A city council committee has granted applicant Bahar Oruk a premises licence for on-sales of alcohol at the Turkish-Kurdish Community and Social Club, at 119-121 Chepstow Road.

His agent, Paul Rowlands, described the premises as a “family club” and offered reassurances about customers “filling out the street”.

His comments followed two objections from nearby traders who claimed alcohol sales at the club, where there is currently no off-street smoking area, would make them “not feel safe walking home after work”.

They also suggested the licence, if approved, could lead to antisocial behaviour – and alleged the premises was “already open later than it is supposed to be”.

One objector speculated that the premises was “selling alcohol already”, but a council licensing officer said his team had found no evidence of that.

The officer, Alastair Dearling, said that “while undertaking our nighttime enforcement two weeks ago, officers visited the premises, firstly to see the applicant received the report that was sent out and was aware of the hearing, and during that time licensing officers noted there was no alcohol at the premises or being stored on the premises”.

“Clearly the premises can open, the licensing authority only deals with matters under the Licensing Act,” he added. “That doesn’t prevent a social club opening up. The license provisions are only that, in this case, of alcohol – and there was no alcohol found at the premises at the time.”

Mr Dearling also told the committee the council had “no issues historically regarding that premises… when alcohol was permitted to be sold for off-sales” under previous ownership.

Mr Rowlands refuted the claims made by the two objectors and advised the committee that applications for new bars could attract “malicious objections” as well as “legitimate objections”.

“I would say one of those is malicious in the very least, but again that’s my assumption,” he alleged.

He accepted concerns about smokers on the pavement, and said a rear yard at the property “which lends itself absolutely perfectly to a smoking area” would be available in seven months’ time. 

In the meantime, the club would “restrict the smoking outside the property to a maximum of two people at any one time, so there won’t be gangs of parties out there”.

He added the applicant didn’t “envisage people being there very late – it’s more of a family club”.

Mr Dearling said Gwent Police had agreed to withdraw their initial representations in the case after the applicant accepted a series of recommendations for the licence.

These include staff training on underage sales, the use of schemes to protect the wider public such as ‘Ask for Angela’, the installation of CCTV to cover “all licensable and stock areas”, glass collection policies, the refusal to admit outside alcohol onto the premises, and the need for customers to “respect the needs of local residents and leave the area quietly”.

The committee agreed to approve the licence for on-sales of alcohol, seven days a week, from 10am to midnight.